Senior Timothy Sweeney won Performer of the Year honors for a second-straight year, while Michael Ackalitis won Coach of the Year for a second-straight outing as the City University of New York Athletic Conference highlighted it’s year-end winners and all-star units. Alongside the headliners, seven Dolphins were named All-Stars in process, wrapping up a tremendous CUNYAC season for the lot.
Sweeney was a clear choice for Performer of the Year honors as he enjoyed a stellar senior year that saw him amass six CUNYAC Performer of the Week citations throughout the year, winning 30 first place finishes this season and amassing a CSI high 603 points. He was named the Championship Meet Most Valuable Performer for the fourth year in a row and exited the postseason holding eight CSI individual records. He has achieved NCAA B-cut qualification time for his signature Butterfly event as well as the postseason continues.
A perfect regular season run concluded with a fourth-consecutive championship for CSI and for that Ackalitis was named Coach of the Year. The Dolphins recorded a 4-0 CUNYAC record and an 8-2 overall mark.
Seven more Dolphins were decorated with all-star status. Senior Derek Villa earned double praise, noted as an all-star while also outfitting the CUNYAC All-Sportsmanship Team. Villa was second on the team with 522 total points and 19 gold-medal finishes. He was also tied for the team lead with 18 top three finishes in relay events.
Nicholas Defonte and Jonathan Gorinshteyn were also named to the all-star team. They tied with 24 top three finishes in individual events this season. Defonte finished with a total of 453.5 points earned while Gorinshteyn was right behind with 445, good for third and fourth on the team respectively.
Three-time CUNYAC Rookie of the Week Omar Zaky also earned on to the all-star team. Zaky was fifth on the squad with 293 total points and finished tied for the team lead with 18 top three finishes as part of relay teams. He also added five first place finishes.
Junior Brandon Lei was also named on to the squad. He finished next in line with 263 total points and was tied for third on the team with seven gold medal finishes in relay events.
Rounding out the all-star teams was brother diving duo Ayman and Adil El Haddad. The duo were outstanding this season on both diving boards. Ayman El Haddad finished just one point ahead of Adil with 132 season points, finishing with 9 top three finishes on the boards including five gold medals. Adil finished fifth on the team with six first place finishes this year.
Brooklyn College’s Vincent Xue won the CUNYAC’s Rookie of the Year honor while Baruch’s Andrew Lubrino took home Sportsmanship Player of the Year.
